Who should have been killed in Nemesis? (Not Stuart Baird please)

...he can set it on overload and run back out to that hatch and jump back into space.

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Our heroes should remember that in "Datalore", they dumped a Soong android in space, but in "Brothers" he came back to bite them anyway. How could the heroes know that Data was destroyed in the explosion? Indeed, how could the audience?

To rationalize the transporter thing somewhat, what goes down in the puff of smoke is probably the targeting system vital for transporting. Let's say it's all the more vital for transporting through the interference of the Bassen Rift. No lesser system, such as that of the shuttlecraft, can work in the Rift (we know from "Best of Both Worlds" and "Future's End" that shuttle transporters are grossly inferior to starship ones). So a signal enhancer is needed to sort it all out, and the button is a modern, miniature enhancer.

That Data doesn't use the enhancer to beam back with Picard in the end is easily explained: he needs to finish the job, and expects to survive, thanks to being an android (up yours, thalaron dust!). That Data doesn't use the enhancer to beam back with Picard from Shinzon's lab earlier on... Cannot be explained.

Data says earlier in the movie that the transporter device is a prototype and only has enough power to transport one. As for the shuttlecraft transporters, the shuttlecrafts on the Scimitar were destroyed and damaged from the crashing of the two ships. Perhaps the same thing happened to the Enterprise's shuttlecrafts. Geordi does say that transporters are down. Probably meaning all transporters.

And the idea of of Data overloading his phaser or putting it on a timer wouldn't have really worked. The thaloran radiation was about to be fired at the Enterprise and there would have been no time for him to get back to the hatch he came in from. It was down to something like thirty seconds. Another one of those pesky countdown clocks which always seems to get in the way.

Thematically it would've worked better had Picard been the one to die.

1. It would've worked better with the story they were going for. King Arthur meets his long lost son Mordred. In the story Mordred strikes down Arthur as Arthur pierces him with a lance. Displayed in how Picard ends Shinzon.

2. Also had Picard died then Riker would likely been promoted to captain of the Enterprise. The rest of the crew would've stayed together after that. Worf and Geordi never left the Ent-E, Troi now Riker's wife wouldn't leave for the Titan, Crusher may have stayed on to keep the family together and Data would be first officer.

3. Riker's destiny would be fufilled by becoming captain of the Enterprise. There mission would be working on relations with the Romulans just like at the end of NEM. Mirroring Undiscovered Country by making a long time enemy an ally.

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I really like how you've laid this out. It makes a lot of sense and would've made for a much better film. I like the description of Shinzon as Mordred quite a bit. And the way he did die could be seen as Arthurian in retrospect.

Then, of course, as mentioned below, Riker could have been offered command.

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I wonder how that would have worked out. In the timeline of the movie (as I understand it) Riker had already been offered and had accepted the command of the Titan before the beginning of the movie. Picard mentioned this in his wedding toast.

So, if subsequent to Picard death Starfleet had gone to Riker and gave him the option of the (presumably) more prestigious command of the Enterprise E, what would Riker do? Enterprise or Titan?

Picard. Data downloading his memories to B-4 was the equivalent of backing up a hard drive. Not a very sensient thing to do. Androids do not have souls (unlike Vulcans and their katras) so the memories are just files without the positronic net. After all he had fought for to be accepted as a sentient lifeform (TNG: The Measure of a Man) it was cheap to have Data extinguihed. B-4 was a cheap ret-con plot device. Now if Shinzon had reassembled Lore and teamed up with him, that would have made more sense. It still wouldn't have helped the film much though with all of its issues.

I was curious about something regarding the much discussed movie, Star Trek Nemesis. Forgive me for my assumption if I am wrong, but the vibe that I get is that most of us here think the Data death was a bad thing, or at the least, was poorly executed for many reasons, one of which being the presence of B-4. I loved the message that it sent in regards to Data in his quest to be more human by making the ultimate sacrifice. My question is this...if you could change a few things, who would you rather have seen killed off on "A Generation's Final Journey?" (other than Wesley Crusher of course. ) I'm asking this question in spite of not having an opinion myself, but I really do enjoy the discussions even if I have no opinion as of yet.

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All of them should have died.

The Enterprise should have hit an asteroid while Troi was driving at warp 9.